Cement-plate press.



PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.

L. sTEEUEI. CEMENT PLATE PRESS.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 1B. 1902.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

' ma Noms Perzns co. Puo-rauwe.. wAsNmsmN. n. c,

No. '255g-253.. I PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.

v L. STREULI CEMENT PLATEl PRESS. APPLIoATIoN FILED Nov. 1a, 1902. No MODEL. l l 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED MAE. 2z, 1904.

l STEEULI. CEMENT PLATE PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1B, 1902.

4 SHEETS-'snm s.

NO MODEL.

Inl/euhm Witnesses I No. 755,253. 4PAELENTED MAE', 22, 1904.

L. STEEULI. CEMENT PLATE PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18, 1902.

N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHBBT 4.

.S i [1 1 velztor.

Non

UNITED STATES 'Patented March a2, .1904.. s

L oUIs sTREULI, or ZURICH, SWITZERLAND.

CEMENT-PLATE PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,253, dated March 2.2, 1904.

Application filed November 18, 1902. Serial No. 131,845. (No model.) i

To all whom/ it muy concern:

Be it knownthat I, LOUIS STREULI, acitizen of the Republic of Switzerland, residingat Zurich, Switzerland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cement-Plate Presses, of which the following is a specification. i

All prior cement-plate presses with rotating tables possess vthe disadvantage that in pressing plates with ridges, ribs, strengthening-ribs, and the like the material is irregularly distributed. This is owing to the fact that with the filling devices now commonlyy employed the molds are filled with a uniform layer of material, which is most firmly pressed together at the thinnest parts of the plates,

Referring to the drawings, in which like' parts are similarly designated, Figurel is'a vertical sectionpof the apparatus applied to a press, taken on the line C D of Fig. 2. Fig.'2 is a sectionalj plan taken on, the line A B of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line E F of Fig. 2. Figs. 4 to l7 are detail-views of parts to be hereinafter referred to. Fig. 8 is a section of a plate after preliminary and final pressing. Y Fig. 9 is a side elevation,

partly in section, of the main and preliminary presses; and Fig. 10 is a top plan view ofFig. 9. I

. The press shown is` capable of making four 'finished plates or tiles at each revolution of its table. Y. y f. The machine has an auxiliary or preliminary press and a main press situated ninety degrees apart around the operating-table andV comprises framingv 3 and 37 lthe former for the auxiliary or preliminary press and the latter for the main press.

YOn the vertical stationary shaft 2 is revolubly mounted a sleeve 63,that has a four-toothed ratchet-Wheel 64 secured toiit, andalsomountr.

ed on this sleeve, or a prolongation ofit, is the revoluble table 1. In this table atequal angulardistances apart (ninety degrees when the-machine is built to turnout four tiles at each revolution) are arranged'molds or. forms 4, each having a removable bottom 5.

Around the table 1 is a stationaryring or frame 6, here shown as channel shape in. sec-l tion/and whose, upper face is on'` the -saIne level as the top of the table. Secured to the ring 6 is an arm 7 projecting over the table and supporting aifeed-hopper 8,"Whose bottom is normally closed by a horizontal plate 9, free to be moved around the sleeve 63 as a center. This plate isa slight distance above the Vtable and. has an opening4 10 arranged in Such a position as to be moved under the feedhopper and is capable of registering with-the molds or forms. Within this 'opening 10 is suspended a grid 1l, that moves with the plate9.

Securedto the under side of the plate 9 andv arranged around the opening 10 is a frame 12, whose lower edges lie close to the top ofthe table l, and is cut away on its lower part ati13, Y Fig. `1, to form a slot between it and the table forvthe entrance of a stop-plate 14, secured: to

the ring 6 and lying directly above the tablev andl projecting at4 one side below the hopper. 8. Securedto the ring 6 and projecting over the table is astationary arm l5, on the endof'which is pivotally mounteda horizontal two-armed 'lever 16, Figs; 1, 2, and 10, one arm ofwhich is Aconnected by a link 17 to the plate 9, and

` the other arm carriesflat springs 18, against which strike the studs 19, Figs. 2, 6, and 7,

capable of being projected through the table. It is this lever. 16 that imparts to the plate 9 itsmovement in one direction about the center, v

the timing of the oscillations being determined by the studs 19. Secured to the inside of the ring 6 is a guide-rail 21, that has a cam-surface or raised portion 22, Figs. 2 and 3, at the pre-` pivoted on a pin at 23, Figs. 2 and 6, that has a guide-roller 25 mounted on its end, said roller bearing on the table to -support the plate 9. The arm 24 has a hook end adapted to be engaged by the studs 19 as they successively come into position to carry the plate 9, with its grid 11 now in register with the mold in the table, a sufficient angular distance to bring them simultaneously under the preliminary press. This lever-arm 24 locks the plate to the table at the proper time. Since the table has periodic motion of ninety degrees, it will stop under the preliminary press, the lever 24 resting on a stationary inclined cam-surface 26, secured to the top of the ring 6 and ending in a stop 36. This cam-surface raises the lever and allows a stud 19 to pass from under it, said stud being still held projected through the-table until it has moved the lever 16 to reset the plate 9 over the neXt succeeding mold.

The frame 3 of the preliminary press is so formed as to constitute a base 27 to support the bottom 5 of the molds during the pressing operation and is also constructed to receive vertically-reciprocable guide-rods 28, Figs. 1, 3, and 9, of a stamp-head 29, corresponding in Shape to the mold and carrying lateral knives 30, that have slots 30a to allow them to freely pass those grid-bars that secure the grid 11 in the opening in the plate 9.

The frame 37 has bearings for a drivingshaft 39, whose free end is mounted in a pillow-block 38 and is driven by belt-pulley 40. On this shaft is a pinion 41, meshing with a gear-wheel 43 on a shaft 42, that carries a pinion 44, driving the gear-wheel 46 on shaft 45. This shaft 45 is provided with a crank operating an arm 57, that operates a toggle 56, connected to the die 55 of the main press. This die is situated above a removable plate 58 on the anvil of the press. The shaft 45 also carries a cam-plate 47, having a cut-away portion 48 and has secured to it a ball-ended crank-pin 47a, to which is connected by a socket-joint one end of a rod 59, whose other end is connected by a ball-and-socket joint 60 to a pawl-arm 61, movable around the shaft 2. This paWl-arm 61 carries a vertically-movable spring-pressed pawl 62, that rides up the inclined surface 65 and then snaps behind a tooth of the ratchet-wheel 64. Pivoted to the frame at 50 is a two-armed lever, one arm, 51, of which rides on the cam-wheel 47, and the other arm, 53, is connected by its forked end that embraces one of the guide-rods 28 of the preliminary press by a link 54 to the preliminary press.

The operation is as follows: The table moves in the direction of the arrow on the right of Fig. 2 and is at rest under the preliminary press, and the press-head 35 is about to perform its work. A further rotation of the driving-pulley 40 will cause the cam-plate to progress in its revolution and allow the arm 51 to ride over the cut-away portion 48, thereby permitting the preliminary press to descend, and at the same time that mold situated under the main press is operated upon.' During the pressing in both presses the springpawl rides over an inclined surface 65 and is snapped behind a tooth on the ratchet-Wheel 64 to move the table the next one-quarter revolution. The lever 24, Fig. 2, now rides up the incline 26 to be released from a stud 19, while the material remaining in the grid is sheared off by the frame 12 on the under side of the plate 9, the stop 36 preventing any further movement of the plate 9 with the table. The stud still held projected through the table ,1 by the elevated cam-surface 22 or rail 21 is moved with the table until it strikes the springs 18 on the end of the two-armed lever 16, moving this arm through the arc of a circle,.and then retreats into the table by reason of the ending of the cam-surface 22. The two-armed lever 16, being thus moved, rotates the plate 9 or movable bottom of the hopper to bring the opening 10 and its grid, which is still containing some of the plastic mass that has been struck from the form, so that it will pass under the hopper, while at the same time another mold in the table and under plate 9 is coming into register. The plate 14, entering with its forward edge 32 into the slot or cutaway portion 13 under the frame 12, stops the plate, and the mold cannot commence to' be lilled until this edge is passed by the front of the mold. At this moment another stud 19 has been projected through the table 1, engages the lever 24, and both table 1 and plate 9 move together away from the hopper. The empty mold now gradually advances beyond the edge 32 of plate 14, and the material enters, lling up the mold from one side to the other, and then passes to the preliminary pres to repeat the operations just described.

The plate 14 insures auniform distribution of color 33, Fig. 4, on the mold-bottom during the manufacture of colored plates. Were there no such plate 14, then as soon as the mold-front had reached the hopper it would commence to be filled, and as the mold passed below the hopper the layer of color would be liable to be disturbed, owing to the descent of material into the part of the mold still to be filled, which would be accompanied by more or less shifting and slipping of the material already filled in.

With the press illustrated plates are produced which are provided along two adjacent edges on either side with projecting ribs. If

such plates were pressed at one operation fromA an evenly-filled mold, want of uniformity in the density of the material would result. At the thin parts of the plate the material would be closer compressed than at the ribs, and the plate therefore would not be uniformly strongthroughout. This diiiiculty is overcome by the preliminary pressing operation referred to. For this reason the stamp- IOO IIO

4) in the mold is not compressed. In order that the material lying immediately below the edges 34 and 35 may experience a pressure and the other portions remain unaected, knives are provided secured on the inside of the walls of the mold. These blades on descent of the stamp-head enter the material in the mold, and so constitute a partition between the compressed and the loose mass of cement. When the stamp-head has beenraised from the plate 9, the table 1 continues its advance in the direction of the arrow. As already mentioned, the lever 16 is then turned and the plate retreated into the dotted-line position. In this manner all material projecting beyond the edge of the mold 4 will be struck smooth by the frame 12. -The thus-struck and partly-pressed mold now comes below a second or principal stamp, whereby the whole of the material in the mold is pressed until the plate is of the thickness required.

Fig. 8 is a cross-section of a plate after undergoing the first pressing in the machine described and struck smooth, (open and close section-lines together.) After, the main or final pressing operation the plate assumes the finished form, as shown by the closely-dotted lines in this iigure. In this condition of the plate-the ribs and the body of the plate are of equal density.

Naturally both the rim of the stamp-head and the knives must be provided with slots to admit of their descending upon the grid 11. rlhe latter has a twofold purpose. First, it prevents accumulation of surplus material at the back part of the frame 12 while the waste material in the mold is being struck olf in the manner ,already described; otherwise this accumulated material on retreat of the plate from right to left would be thrown upon the table by the bottom edge of the hopper. Secondly, the grid on movement of the plate 9 from right to left by a similar action prevents the accumulation of material at the pushing side of the frame 12. It thus causes uniform distribution of the material over the whole breadth of the frame duringadvance of the mold. The filling of the mold therefore proceeds just as though there were no relative motion between hopper and mold,- whereby displacement of the layer of color on the bottom of the mold is avoided. Thus the grid supplements in this case the action of theplate 14 in preventing disturbance of the layer of color.

Having thus described my said invention,

what I claim as new therein, and desire to se-v aperture and filling the space between plate and table, a stamp, the head of which is provided with projecting portions corresponding to the raised ribs, ridges, nibs or the like to be formed on the cement plate, means for-vertically reciprocating the stamp-head, means for advancing the closing-plate between hopper and stamp-head so that the aperture of the said plate alternately comes below the hopper, and below the stamp-head simultaneously witha mold after the latter and the,

frame of the aperture are filled with material, for the purpose of imparting a preliminary pressure at certain parts of the mold on descent of the stamp-head, so that after the main pressing operation the cement plate, of different thicknesses at different parts, is of uniform density throughout, substantially as described.

`2. In cement-presses with rotating table and forms let into the same, a lling device with a stationary hopper, a plate serving to close the hopper-exit, located at a certain distance above the table and provided with an aperture corresponding in size to the cross-sectional area of the form, a frame applied to the bottom of said plate, surrounding the said aperture and filling the space between plate and table, a device for imparting preliminary pressure to certain parts of the material in the mold, means for moving. the closingplate between the preliminary pressing device and the hopper, and a grid suspended by the frame surrounding the aperture of the closing-plate, for the purpose during filling of the mold of preventing displacement of a layer of color which may be appliedv to the bottom of the mold,l and of hindering an accumulation of material in the frame of `the closing-plate during striking .off the roughlyfilled form by the said frame, all substantially as described.

3. In cement-presses with rotating table and l Vforms let into the same, a lling device with a stationary hopper, a plate serving to close the hopper-exit, located at a certain distance above the table and provided with an aperture corresponding in size to the cross-sectional area of the form, a frame applied to the bottom of said plate, surrounding the said aperture and filling the space between plate IOO IIO

and table, a grid in this frame, a stationary plate located above the table below the hopper, said plate extending nearly to the hopper-front for the purpose, in conjunction with the grid, of preventing disturbance of the uniform distribution of a layer of color applied to the bottom of the mold by the material entering the mold, all substantially as described.

4:. In acement-press,a rotating table having forms, a feed-hopper, aperiodically-oscillated plate to close the hopper and having an opening therein, means carried by the table to move said plate iirst in one direction and then in an opposite direction, a preliminary and a main press, substantially as described.

5. In acement-press, a rotating table having forms, therein, a feed-hopper, a periodicallyoscillated plate to close the hopper and having an opening therein, means to temporarily conneet the plate and table to use both in unison and means to subsequently move the plate in a direction opposite to that of the table, substantially as described.

6. In a cement-press, a periodically-rotating table, forms therein, a feedhopper,a plate to normally close said hopper and having an opening therein, means to temporarily lock the plate and table together during the illing of the form, means to press part of the material in the form, means to move the plate after the preliminary pressing into register with the next succeeding form and a device on the plate to strike the lled form smooth during the latter movement of the plate, substantially as described.

7. In a cement-press, a periodically-rotating table, forms therein, a feed-hopper, a movable plate to normally close the same and having an opening therein, a grid in said openf ing and a frame below the plate surrounding the opening, a stationary plate projectingunder the hopper and acting as stop for said frame and movable plate, a preliminary press, means to temporarily lock the movable plate to the table when grid and form register to move both to the preliminary press, means to then unlock the movable plate, lever mechanism to return said plate to register with the next preceding form and a main press, substantially as described.

8. The combination with a rotating table hav ing forms therein, of a preliminary press and a main press, a guide-rail below the table havl ing a cam-surface, studs in the table and slid ing on said rail and capable of being projected through the table by said cam-surface, a hopper, a plate normally closing the hopper and having an opening therein capable of registering with the forms and passing below the hopper, a locking-lever pivoted to the plate and adapted to be engaged by a stud, means to lift the lever from the stud, a two-armed lever-link connected to the plate and supported over the table also adapted to be engaged by a stud, substantially as described.

- In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LOUIS STREULI. Witnesses:

MORITZ VEITH, A. LIEBERKNECHT. 

